Abstract [en]

A diverse assemblage of late Early Cambrian brachiopods is described from the Bastion and Ella Island formations of North-East Greenland. The fauna includes nine species, representing all three extant brachiopod subphyla in addition to the stem group brachiopod Mickwitzia cf. occidens. Four linguliforms: Eoobolus priscus, Botsfordia caelata, Micromitra bella, Vandalotreta sp., three rynchonelliforms: Obolella crassa, Kutorgina reticulata, and an unidentified chileid plus a possible craniiform species occur. The fauna shows similarities to late Early Cambrian (Dyeran Stage) brachiopod faunas of eastern Canada and the United States, but also to faunas from the late Early Cambrian (Botomian–Toyonian equivalent) of Australia, Antarctica and Siberia

Skovsted, Christian B.

Alternative title[sv]

Den tidigkambriska faunan från Nordöstgrönland

Abstract [en]

Small shelly fossils are common in sediments of Early Cambrian age and include the earliest common representatives of metazoan animals with mineralized hard parts. The group includes fossils of very different morphology, composition and ultrastructure. They seem to represent skeletal remains of numerous animal groups, the biological affinities of which are largely unresolved. However, the wide geographic range of many forms has the potential to enhance biostratigraphic and palaeogeographic resolution in the Early Cambrian.

The late Early Cambrian sequence of North-East Greenland has yielded an assemblage of more than 88 species of small shelly fossils, brachiopods and trilobites, indicative of a middle Dyeran age (Botoman equivalent). The recovered fossils include a number of species that are known from other Early Cambrian palaeocontinents, and particularly strong ties to late Early Cambrian faunas of Australia are documented. The many cosmopolitan taxa thus identified suggests a close juxtaposition of palaeocontinents at this time.

The systematic affinity of many of these small shelly fossils is poorly understood, partly because of their fragmentary nature and poor preservation. However, new data from North-East Greenland improves our understanding of the function and biological affinity of certain taxa. Collections of the problematic fossil Mongolitubulus from North and North-East Greenland exhibit characters indicative of a defensive function as spines of bivalved arthropods, while species of the problematic genus Triplicatella represent the opercula of an unknown tubular shell, probably related to orthothecid hyoliths. The bivalved fossil Mickwitzia from North-East Greenland combines characters of linguliform brachiopods and sclerites of Micrina, a non-bivalved problematic form (halkieriid) from Australia. The combination suggests that Mickwitzia is a stem group brachiopod and strengthens arguments for a halkieriid ancestry of the brachiopod phylum.